Juan Antonio Argerich (1862–1924) was an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

statesman and internationally renowned writer who was elected six times to the

Argentine National Congress The National Congress of Argentina () is the legislative branch of the government of Argentina. Its composition is bicameral, constituted by a 72-seat Senate and a 257-seat Chamber of Deputies. The Senate, a third of whose members are elected to ...

. Among the many policies that he furthered during his tenure was the elimination of electoral colleges for

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The ...

in favor of popular votes. This allowed minority party candidates to be included on popular

ballots A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16th centur ...

. He established a national

immigration policy Immigration law includes the national statutes, regulations, and legal precedents governing immigration into and deportation from a country. Strictly speaking, it is distinct from other matters such as naturalization and citizenship, although the ...

to eliminate arbitrary decisions and provided a legal path to

naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

and deportation within the framework of due process. He also improved the governance structure within the federal capital city of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. This improvement broadened federal court jurisdictions in certain legal cases and defined the establishment of trial by jury in criminal cases in a way that would guarantee due legal process as well as prerogatives of the government's

legislative A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers ...

branch. His best known literary work is the

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

''¿Inocentes o culpables?'' (1884), which made the case for hardline

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

reform at a time when many

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were moving to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

References

1862 births 1924 deaths Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Province Argentine male writers Place of birth missing {{Argentina-writer-stub